PCGG papers missing — Yorac

As it celebrates its 16th anniversary today, the Presidential Commission on Good Government has admitted that several important documents might already be missing from the PCGG vault.

PCGG Chairwoman Haydee Yorac said yesterday that with the changing commission leadership through the years, the documents kept in the PCGG seemed to have been neglected and were in disarray.

To address this, Yorac has ordered an inventory of all documents so they can identify which in particular are missing. She did not rule out that among the missing documents may be records of the assets of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos and his cronies.

"One boxful of (various) documents (is) missing. I have issued a memo (to trace where they are)," she said in an interview.

"The documents are still in disarray. I hope that when the computerization is finished by early April, we can identify exactly the missing documents," she said.

To date, Yorac said the computer already accounted for more than 50 percent of the records at PCGG. The massive computerization of the PCGG includes scanning of documents and storing them in a database.

Asked of the probability that the missing documents were stolen, Yorac declined to comment.

For instance, lawyer Federico Alikpala told Yorac that a pack of documents on the case of Geronimo Velasco, a Marcos crony and energy minister during the martial law regime, is missing from the PCGG vaults.

Alikpala was formerly commissioned by the PCGG to handle the criminal and civil charges against Velasco.

On its 16th anniversary, the PCGG appeared to be back to square one in pursuing civil and criminal cases against the Marcoses and their cronies.

Under the administration of former Senate President Jovito Salonga, the PCGG’s first chairman, the allegedly ill-gotten wealth of the Marcoses was estimated at $65 billion, which was believed stashed in different banks here and abroad.

At present, the PCGG is faced with many legal setbacks such as forfeiture case 0141 seeking to recover the $660 million escrow account of the Marcoses in Switzerland, and the lifting from sequestration of some P312 million worth of shares of stocks, assets and property of the late Marcos crony Hans Menzi.

It was during the administration of former President Corazon Aquino that the PCGG was created through Executive Order No. 1. The commission was formed to trace the alleged ill-gotten wealth of the Marcoses and their cronies.

"It’s time for reflection and recommittment of the PCGG," Yorac said.

She admitted that even when the PCGG is armed with strong documentary evidence, it would still be difficult for them to run after other Marcos assets that were recently uncovered because the agency lacks funds to pursue them.

But she noted that the PCGG is coordinating with Zurich district attorney Dieter Jann in seeking the recovery of recently discovered Marcos Swiss funds.

Yorac said that the commission already has 25 lawyers, but needs 25 more.